Any action for Mira Nair’s Amitabh Bachchan/Johnny Depp starrer Shantaram has come to a grinding halt, along with several other Hollywood films, due to the writers’ strike. The film (under Warner Brothers) shooting which was to commence in February has been called off, this after $2 million was shelled out for the rights to the Gregory David Roberts bestselling novel on which it is based.

Bachchan is taking on the role of mafia boss Kader Bhai in the film. It can be recalled here that Bachchan refused to go bald for the part. Depp, plays the lead role of an Australian heroin addict who escapes a maximum-security prison, reinvents himself as a doctor in the slums of India and eventually uses gun-running and counterfeiting skills to fight against the invading Russian troops in Afghanistan.

The onset of monsoon season along with time constraints for Depp have also added to the postponement of the film’s commencement. Mostly filmed in India, a portion of Shantaram will also be shot in New Mexico.